Question

The amount of time it takes a swimmer to swim a race is inversely proportional to the average speed of the swimmer. A swimmer finishes a race in 50 seconds with an average speed of 3 feet per second. Find the average speed of the swimmer if it takes 37.5 seconds to finish the race.

Answer 1

3

Explanation:

Let be t = time to finish

s = average speed

Since is inversely proportional, if t is higher, s lower.

The constant of proportion (k) is

t = k / s

k = t * s

k = 37.5 * 4

k = 150

now that we know k, we can find s for t = 50 seconds

t = k / s

s = k/t

s = 150 / 50

s = 3